Rail-joint.



. PATENTED MAR. 24, 1903. G. L. MATHENEY.

RAIL JOINT.

ooooooo UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFiCE.

GEORGE L. MATHENEY, OF BRIDGEPORT, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO R. O. MONTGOMERY, OF MARTINS FERRY, OHIO.

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 723,699, dated. March 24, 1903.

Application filed October 30, 1902." Serial No. 129,396. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, GEORGE L. MATHENEY, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Bridgeport, countyof Belmont, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and usefulimprovernents in rail-joints, and more specific- 1O ally to certain novel means forsecuring the adjacent ends of railway-rails; and it consists in the particular construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which will hereinafter be fully described, and pointed out in the appended claims. The object of my invention is to provide a railway-rail joint for rigidly securing the adjacent ends of rails.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rail-joint for securely holding the adjacent ends of rails to whichit is applied which dispenses with the use of bolts and nuts.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a rail-joint of the above-referred-to class which is extremely simple in its construction and in the arrangement of its parts, which is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, which is little liable to get out of order, and which is easily and quickly applied.

In describingmy invention in detail reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a cross-section of my invention and of a rail to which it is applied. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing my invention applied to the adjacent ends of rails. Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the knob-like projections.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference-numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, 1 and 2 indicate the adjacent ends of two railway-rails, 3 the head, 4 the web, and 5 the base thereof.

6 is a chair, which consists of asole-plate 7, on which the bases 5 of the rails rest and having one of its edges bent upward and backward along the inclined upper surfaces of the bases 5, embracing the said bases, and thence upward to form a fish-plate or angle-bar 8, the rear or inner face of which bears against the webs 4 of the rails at its top and base and the upper edge of which forms an inclined bearing-shoulder fitting against the under inclined surfaces of the heads 3. 9 is a fish-plate or angle-bar having its up '55 per edge inclined to fit the inclined under surface of the head 3 and having a backward extension 10 at its base, with an inclined under surface to fit the upper inclined surface of the base, said extension 10 extending beyond the 'to secure the device in position on the crossties or other underlying structure.

Provided in the opposite or bent edge of the chair 6 are spike holes or recesses 13, in which spikes are set for securing the opposite side of the device in position. The inner faces of the said angle-bar 9 and the said angle-bar portion 8 of the chair 6 are preferably arched, substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and on the faces of the arched portions'are provided a plurality of substantially knobshaped projections 14, adapted to fit within the ordinary openings or bolt-holes 15 in the rail-web 4 to prevent longitudinal movement in said rails. V

As illustrated, when my invention is applied to the adjacent ends of the ordinary railway-rails the lower fiat inclined surfaces of the inclined portions 10 and 16 are in binding contact and entirely cover the upper surface of the base of the rail, on either side thereof. The sole-plate 7 and the lower flanged portion or extension 10 are adapted to be together spiked upon the ties or other underlying structure, so that when the angle-bars are placed in proper position in respect to the rail and the spikes driven home the parts are rigidly clamped together, preventing any lateral movement in the rail, and the knob-like projections 14, engaging the openings 15 of the 5 web of the rail, prevent any longitudinal movement of said rail.

As is obvious, when my invention is used on an ordinary straight track the angle-bar 9 is preferably placed on the inner side of the rail, since the greater strain on such track is on the inner side of the rail, and therear end of the sole-plate 7 serves as a brace to hold the said rail in position. On the other hand, when it is used on a curve said angle-bar 9 is preferably placed on the outer side of the rail, particularly on the outer rail of the curve, since the greater strain will there be on the outer side of the rail.

As is apparent, the sole-plate 7 and the extension 10, being together spiked to the ties, cooperate to hold the two angle-bars in a fixed position in respect to the rail.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have described my invention more or less in detail; but it is obvious that many mere mechanical changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Hence I do not wish to limit myself to the precise construction herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a rail-joint, the combination with the adjacent ends of rails, of a chair having one of its edges upturned to form an angle-bar, an angle-bar on the opposite side of the rail ends, a flange extension on the last-named angle-bar, spikes for securing the chair and the flange extension to the ties or underlying structure, and knob-like projections on the inner faces of said angle-bars for engaging the bolt-holes of the rails on the opposite sides thereof.

2. In a rail-joint, the combination with the adjacent ends of rails having openings in the web portion thereof, of vertical angle-bars or splice-bars located on each side of the rail ends, one of said angle-bars having an integral chair extension of substantially the same thickness throughout the rear edge of which projects beyond the edge of the rail-bases on the side opposite the angle-bar proper, said projection provided with spike-holes therein, and the other angle-bar having a rearwardlyextending flange the rear edge of which overlaps the rear edge projection of said chair extension, said rearwardly-extending flange provided with spike-holes therein registering with the spike-holes in the rear edge projection of the chair, spikes for securing said parts in position, and short knobshaped projections on the inner face of each angle-bar for engaging the openings in the rail-web, substantially as described.

3. A rail-joint, comprising the ends of two railroad-rails when placed in juxtaposition, in combination with a rigid supporting anglebar or fish-plate on one side of the rail ends, short knob-shaped projections on the inner face of said angle-bar for engaging openings in the web portion of the rails,'a rail-baseembracing chair integral with said angle-bar and of substantially the same thickness throughout, the rear edge of which projects beyond the rail-base on the side opposite the said angle-bar and is provided with spikeopenings therein, a rigid supporting anglebar or fish-plate 9, having a flange member which overlaps the upper surface of the railbase and the projecting edge of the chair, on the opposite sides of the rail ends, said flange member provided with spike-openings registering with the spike-openings in the projecting edge of the chair, short knob-shaped projections on the inner face of the angle-bar 9 for engaging the openings in the web portion of the rails, and spikes in the registering spike openings for securing the parts to gether and for holding the rail ends in position, substantially as described.

4. The combination with an ordinary rail having openings in the Web portion thereof, of vertical angle-bars located on both sides of said rail, each of which is provided with lower flanged portions or extensions, the lower flat inclined surfaces of which are in binding contact with and cover the upper surface of the base of the rail on either side thereof, one of said lower flanged portions having an integral sole-plate on which the base of said rail rests, said sole-plate being of substantially the same thickness throughout and projecting at its rear edge beyond the edge of said base and having vertical openings therein, the other lower flanged portion projecting beyond the base of the rail and resting on the projecting rear edge of the said sole-plate and having vertical openings therein registering with the openings in the sole-plate, through which it, together with said soleplate, is adapted to be spiked upon the ordinary ties, and short knob-shaped projections on the inner faces of both angle-bars for engaging the openings in the Web portion of the rail on the opposite sides thereof, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

Signed by me at \Vheeling, West Virginia, this 18th day of October, 1902.

GEORGE L. MATIIENEY.

Witnesses:

H. E. DUNLAP, GEORGE I-I. DIERINGER. 

